Yours Truly: A swoony, uplifting and laugh out loud romance!

Yours Truly is one of the most frustrating, entertaining and snarky reads I've read all year. I don't read much Chick-Lit (though I always tell myself I should!) but I couldn't resist this novel with it's adorbs cover and light, fluffy blurb. Natalie is a people pleaser. She's about to marry a man who makes no sense and she lets people walk all over her since she can't stand to hurt peoples feelings. But while doing this, she's preventing herself from being happy. From living her life, from having the wedding of her dreams! It was SO frustrating to see Natalie just go with it and for everyone around her to tell her to "stop being selfish" when she was hardly being selfish or rude. If I was Natalie, I would be punching people in the face left and right. Olly was probably just as frustrating. The guy would require you to shower before sleeping with him and had a weird obsession with asking you if it was good. If you need to ask ME if YOU were good, I would be convinced you have some self esteem issues you need to take care of before sleeping with me again. But you know, that's just me. But really, the guy was ridiculous. After the hypnotist show I know Natalie hated that she couldn't lie to people anymore and that her life was "spinning out of control" but I think this was good for her. She finally got to tell people what was on her mind and finally tell people to back off when they needed to! She saved herself from marrying someone who wasn't meant for her and went on this remarkable and embarrassing adventure that would change her life. I absolutely enjoyed Yours Truly. The pacing was perfect; it was entertaining and it had enough going on to keep me turning the pages. Natalie was snarky and I really really liked the British slang that was going on! I will definitely be looking forward to more of Kirsty's novels!

The book's blurb and other reviewers summarized the story very well, so I'll just let you know about my feelings while reading the book and give it my rating. The first seven chapters were so slow to me that I had to put the book down. About a week and a few books later, I forced myself to go back to it, and am I glad I did! From that moment on, the story picked up pace and never got boring again, the heroine finally grew a backbone, and the setting moved from Manchester to Little Trooley, a small Yorkshire village. English countryside at Christmastime was as good as it gets. I could almost touch the snow, breathe the fresh air, smell the food, see the colored lights, and hear the birds sing. The scene near a frozen waterfall when a red robin perched on the heroine's knee and chirped to her was amazing, and I envied Natalie for being there and experiencing that miracle. The inhabitants of Little Trooley were all vibrant, well drawn, and memorable, and each one had a distinct personality and added depth to the story. Their steady lives were believable, and their need to support each other every day and to share everything in a time of trouble sincere and admirable. Who wouldn't want to live in a place like this? I definitely would. Natalie, the heroine, was very sympathetic. She was not perfect, but she wasn't afraid to admit her flaws and laugh at herself. She grew tremendously during the story, and it was a great pleasure to me to see her change and find her true love and her relationships with her family and friends sort out. Riley was not your usual too-gorgeous-to be-true, rich, arrogant, and overbearing type of a romance hero. He was a wonderful blend of strong, sexy, caring, and down-to-earth, and I couldn't help but think how yummy and intriguing he was. From the moment they met, I thought he and Natalie would make a great couple, and I was rooting for them from the get-go. The book contained sexual content, but, in my opinion, the love scenes were more sensual and romantic than erotic or explicit. However, I like my romances steamy, and while this one was not at all hot for me, it might be for other readers, so if you want a very clean and sweet read, this book is not it. Yours Truly was the first book by this author I had read. Ms. Greenwood's writing style was light and full of humor, and her ability to capture people and places touched my heart. Yes, the book started slowly, but it got better and better as it moved along, and at the end, I simply could not put it down. A little epilogue would've been nice, though, for I would've liked to know more about Riley and his father's relationship. Overall, I enjoyed the book enough to recommend it to my friends, and I will be looking for more from this author.

Yours Truly made me laugh out loud! My favorite book by Kirsty Greenwood is still Big Sexy Love, but Your Truly is great.

I wasn't sure about this book when I started it but by the end I was completely won over. It was fluffy, light hearted fun & a great escapist read. I found the early chapters a little irritating. I hated Natalie's mother & sister & couldn't see how anyone, however biddable, would put up with the nonsense she takes from them. On the other hand fiance Ollie's shortcomings as a lover & cook made for hilarious reading. Things perk up nicely after Natalie has been hypnotised & really take off when she travels to an out of the way Yorkshire village in an attempt to find hypnotist Brian and have him return her to normal. Riley, our hero,is absolutely lovely and the sexual tension between him and Natalie simmers away nicely. There were lots of genuinely laugh out loud moments, a wonderfully romantic tryst in a kitchen & some real drama towards the end. What has busted this book from a 4 down to a 3 star review is the fact that it is crying out for an editor or at least a proof reader. There was hardly a page without missing words & some howlers that saw people 'routing' in their handbag or someone's hair being described at perfectly 'quaffed'. The more I read the more irritating it became and it was an unwelcome distraction from the story. I thought maybe this was standard in a self published book but I'm reading another at the moment & 84% along I think I've spotted two mistakes so here it's just a case of could do better. This is a funny, warm, entertaining read & I'd be interested to read more from Kirsty Greenwood.

Highly recommend 'Yours Truly' as it is both funny and moving at the same time. The characters are fun and you really root for them.

An absolute treat...

Light read and fun. If you are in a reading slump and need a breezy fun book to start up again this could be recommended.

Kirsty Greenwood's debut novel is the perfect novel for fans of Jane Costello, Paige Toon or Sophie Kinsella. Perfect. Like read it in two days perfect. As a Chick Lit lover herself (and editor of the fab novelicious.com), I firmly believe that the best person to write a Chick Lit book is someone who knows the genre inside out. Who can pinpoint what they like and don't like and somehow make their book into how they want it to be, while also making it brilliant for those who love Chick Lit. Like me. And I loved it. Yours Truly is a one of those rare books with a plot you haven't seen before, as Natalie Butterworth finds herself spilling all of her inner-most truths after being accidentally hypnotised one night. Seeing her life fall apart at her truths, she decides the only thing left to do is to track down the man who hypnotised her, the Amazing Brian. Finding out that he lives in Little Trooley in Yorkshire (see what she did, with the name there?), Natalie and her best friend Meg head up there to get her life back on track. Well, they would. If Brian was there. Instead, he's firmly AWOL and the girls find themselves stuck in Little Trooley for a while, finding themselves getting firmly ensconced in village life while they're there. I really loved the novel. From the beautiful cover, to the easy writing style, to the brilliant characters, the book was a hit. The plot was just so unique, so interesting and Natalie's story was just so, so addictive. I loved Nat, loved her honesty even if it was unintentional. She's the type of character you adore and root for and hope it all works out fine and dandy in the end. Her best mate, Meg, is the perfect best friend, and I loved it even more that she was a Geordie girl, like myself. The characters we're introduced to in Little Trooley make you want to move to Little Trooley, I'm not joking. I wanted to go to the pub, and see the beautiful little houses and the frozen waterfall... It all sounded just so perfect and beautiful, like the most desirable village ever. Kirsty Greenwood could totally be the next big Chick Lit star. It's really quite silly that a book of the calibre she's written has not been snapped up by a publisher. I don't mean that in any sort of negative way to self-publishing (it appears to be the future, or the now, rather), I'm just genuinely surprised no one bought this and published it. I absolutely can't wait for Kirsty's next novel. Considering some of the books I have read recently, and some of the very bad books I've read over the past few years, this is one of the very best. Kirsty knows the audience she's appealing to, she knows what she likes in a book, and she's put all her Chick Lit reading and reviewing into practice perfectly and written one of my favourite books this year. I really, truly loved it.

I loved this book I didn't want to put it down .It was a funny funny and awesome book .